I have just found 2 fruit trees dumped at the back of my garden, i think they are ok, just bare.

i have soaked them in water, and put them in compost in big pots. thing is, i dont know what fruit trees they are yet, just a few leaves tell me they definatley are. will they be ok growing next to a hedge of hawthorn?

since i started this permie thing all sorts have come my way in strange and mysterious ways. hehe.

I guess you see everything in a new way with permaculture in your mind.

If you want to plant them before identifying I would give them a bit of distance to grow to a full size. Also, can you keep the hawthorn trimmed back pretty easily? I don't know about their characteristics. In the meantime you could plant other shrubs and herbs in the gap to connect them and your hedge if that would make since in your circumstances. If you don't have much space, you could plant them closer and plan to remove one later when the space is getting crowded and you had an idea which you like better, if they were hopefully fruiting by that time. I'm sort of new to this too, especially tree and shrub care, but I've done ok just experimenting and altering my plans when something doesn't work like I hoped. Good luck!

You could graft onto hawthorn scion and see what comes out, keeping the trees/roots for other spaces.
Just a thought.

Check the forum for grafting and hawthorn. Supposedly can be done.
Wm